ARI - AO Research Institute
The AO (Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Osteosynthesefragen) is a medically-guided, not-for-profit organization specializing in education, innovation and research of surgical treatment of trauma and musculoskeletal disorders. The AO’s mission is to promote excellence in patient care and outcomes in trauma and musculoskeletal disorders. The AO Research Institute (ARI), located in Davos, Switzerland, is the research branch of the AO with the aim to advance innovation in orthopedics through translational research and development. Research is conducted in several focus areas including regenerative orthopaedics, biomedical development and musculoskeletal infection. The preclinical services are an important part of the ARI, including the preclinical facility, preclinical surgery and tissue morphology. The ARI’s preclinical facility performs in-vivo studies tailored to specific research questions in collaborative projects with different programs of the ARI, AO clinicians, AO industrial partners and external institutions. We assist researchers starting from project design to data analysis and publication, while continuously refining our models and methodologies.
The ARI is accredited with several ISO certifications and we are able to conduct preclinical studies of the highest quality due to accreditation by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) and the Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) certification.
Role within SBR
ARI's role within SBR was two-fold. Within the preclinical services, the team was tasked with planning, preparing and conducting the in-vivo animal study. This was an important step, as the results of the in-vitro research were brought to the laboratory to the living organism, before the new technology could be introduced to human medicine. ARI's team took part in the design of the animal study and refined the methodology and the surgical technique to successfully implant the new product. Their study application had been approved by the ethical commission and they made sure that the welfare of the animals during the study was guaranteed. The animals were operated by specialists with anaesthesia and analgesia protocols to human standards and were managed by experienced veterinarians and animal caretakers after the surgery. To monitor bone healing, X-rays and CT scans were regularly performed by an imaging specialist. Thereby, their highest goal was to conduct in-vivo studies with the utmost responsibility and to the highest standards of reproducibility. The second role of ARI was to perform the biomechanical testing of the operated bones in our in-house biomechanical laboratory, using tailored test procedures that involved motion tracking systems.
